<p>im a sophomore in high school looking to get into either afa, usma, or usna. our school is known for a very high percentage of 4 year college students and outstanding classes. i have a 3.8/4.0, 1380 on sats, 32 on act, i will be a 4 year letter winner in football, track and powerlifting, and i think a 3 year letter winner for baseball as well. i was in the young marines and received medals of physical excellence nationally and i reached the rank of sergeant in 2 years time which is the min. you can get. i also went to florida air academy for a year and got “top classmen of the year” medal and reached a rank higher than any of my other classmates. ive been doing community service for 2 years now and ive made 8/32 in my weight class at state for powerlifting and was wondering what my chances could be for afa?</p>
<p>oops, forgot to tell you i am in all honors classes and i am going to be in 3 ap classes next year as a junior</p>
<p>Ok Tex 21:
Please tell me how you can letter in 4 sports for each of four years when there are only 3 sports seasons. (football in the fall, indoor track in the winter, baseball in the spring. You cannot do two sports in a single season. How does "powerlifting" fit in here? In our area it is not a recognized school sport)
You were a varsity player in all sports as a freshman, and played enough in each to earn your varsity letter? (and are predicting equal or better performance for the next 3 years) Did you take your SAT as a freshman, or as a sophomore this fall? Your GPA is based on 1 year of school. You achieved your rank of sergeant in the young marines in "2 years". Did you start as a 7th or an 8th grader? Did you do young marines while simultaneously attending florida air academy (as a freshman?) while playing football, baseball, running track, and powerlifting??? Your resume is too fantastic to believe for a sophomore, and has too many conflicts. The stretch, especially on the athletics, makes your other accomplishments suspect. The service academies are looking for honor, and integrity. They can read right through trumped up resumes. BTW I noticed you say you scored 1480 on the SAT in your post for one of the other academies. Interesting.
CM</p>
<p>Wooah CM. A little harsh???</p>
<p>well yes, i started both ways fball and did this year as well, nearly made all conference for varsity track freshman year, state in powerlifting, and baseball and yes, at our school you can do 4 sports b/c fball is of course fall, powerlifting and indoor track in winter, regular track and baseball in spring and our track ends about 1 weeks after baseball starts. our baseball season goes thru summer. and no, young marines i started in 6th grade and was at sergeant in 8th grade and went to faa as an 8th grader doing middle school sports. and yea i type a lil fast and dont punch keys in like that so it was 1380 not 1480.. my bad... you can believe im lying and am "trumping" my resumue up cm, i know what i did and the academies will know as soon as i am able to filll applications out middle of jr year. and by the way, since we already had a powerlifting meet this year, i qualified for state AGAIN in one meet. i dont mean to be immature or anything you might suppose me to be, adn your right a 3.8 as a freshman means nearly nothing but im just asking what chances could be IFF i keep it up all the way thru high school</p>
<p>Moms have a sixth sense.....:) Usually I have found they are a little more right than wrong.....:)</p>
<p>Tex 21:
See my post on the Naval academy forum.</p>
<p>You are the one who asked for input.<br>
You can plan the next three years, but the "proof is in the pudding". Life has a way of not following the way you plan it. For example,there is no guarantee that your grades will stay where they are for the next 2 years, especially when you hit junior year and it gets particularly challenging. You could get hurt and miss several seasons.<br>
You do baseball in the summer. Is school in session then? Since I am not familiar with your state (I don't even know what it is) this seems weird to me to have all year school or a school sports program going on when school is not.</p>
<p>All that stuff you did prior to high school is of no consequence. The Academies do not give you a place to list it on your application, and no opportunity to mention it.
If you get this defensive and angry when asked to explain yourself, you are going to be in a bad way as a plebe. They spend their entire year responding to challenges, many more trivial than explaining a conflict in a resume.</p>
<p>Finally, when you ask for input, you should be able to accept it graciously. No one is trying to be mean, only point out what seems to be a glaring conflict (actually several)so you can be prepared to explain it (them) down the road. You cannot hedge your resume hoping that the reader will make assumptions that are false to inprove your standing. You must be completely candid.
CM</p>
<p>Tex - </p>
<p>Given your strengths, I recommend you spend the next couple of years working to find leadership opportunities-captain of one of the teams, president of a club or student body, etc. Not only will this be good preparation for life, but it will round out your record.</p>
<p>You're still young which means you should probably focus on a specific area of academics first. If you enter college undecided, you're going to be wasting a lot of years.</p>
<p>Everyone take a deep breath here and relax. Tex: Candidatemom is right, here. Let's not start talking about admissions chances so early. Heck, you're fishing here anyway, because if you'd done any research at all you'd know that your scores and activities make you competitive. No one here can give you a "you're in for certain" call. There are too many variables for any college/academy admission.</p>
<p>Freshmen, sophomores and (yes) even juniors this year should be asking things like: "Here's my background, what can I do to STRENGTHEN my chances of getting in given my current year in high school?" </p>
<p>She's also right about ANYTHING you did before high school. In fact, AFA doesn't really count anything you did in 9th grade at all (in terms of ECs) because they know there are still plenty of places that only have 3-year HSs (junior high is 7-9). You're just starting out. You have a good start, granted. Your scores are high and you're active. Keep it up. Take the most challenging courses you can and (as said before) look for leadership opportunities in your activities. Keep things in perspective, too. You don't say how big your school is or at what class you're competing, either. I won't venture a guess, but I have some hunches here...</p>
<p>Keep up the good work, though, and check back in when you get your PSAT scores back. That'll tell you whether you're competitive for USAFA's summer scientific seminar (almost two years from now), and thus if you're really a "player" for admission.</p>
<p>Daspidey
There is nothing wrong with entering college "undecided" as to a major and it certainly doesn't mean your high school years were "wasted". High School is mostly filled with class scheduled geared toward filling graduation requirements and college entrance requirements. The key is taking on challenging LEVELS of courses (honors, AP, etc). For most high schools the number of "elective courses" open for a student to gear towards a specific area of academics is limited. Good luck!</p>
<p>there is definitely a plus side to coming in with a decided major. A lot of people do change their minds about their major. If you come in undecided, that means you'll spend 1-2 years deciding what you want to do. If you do come in with a major in mind and you choose to change it later on, you'll have that 2 year edge on those who didnt come in with a major. Either way 2 year edge.</p>
<p>At a normal college, then I think it's probably important to come in with a major decided, then hope you don't have to (or want to) change. For USAFA, USMA, and USNA, there's not much reason to worry about your major for your first year. there is some "tracking" at USAFA these days, but it's no more than asking Basic Cadets if they intend to major in Science/Engineering or a "Fuzzy" major like History, English, Poli Sci, Mgt, etc. I think that's a real advantage of the service academies. Very few HS kids have any idea what it means to major in engineering. They need to see a what it's like before committing one way or another. I considered Chemistry, Poli Sci, and History at USAFA before settling on Engineering Mechanics--still finished in 4 years (as required) and managed to add a double major in Engineering Sciences, too. Of course, my course load was a little high...</p>
<p>For those of you monitoring this site, I'll be TDY (on AF travel) for the next week. I'll try to check in remotely, but if I can't please talk amongst yourselves, be helpful, supportive, and positive...</p>
<p>docfrance</p>
<p>"Everyone take a deep breath here and relax"</p>
<p>haha, docfrace, you rock!</p>
<p>ryan</p>
<p>falconflyer22: Of course I do--even from the road. Go Air Force! Beat CSU!!!
(And go AF basketball! Beat Marquette! (tonight))</p>